Success Mentor

Grand St Settlement•Brooklyn, NY

1d•$20•Onsite

About The Position

Success Mentors are caring adults who mentor chronically absent students to identify the barriers preventing them from attending school each day. The Success Mentor will work closely with families and Community School staff to support Community School Attendance Initiatives. The Success Mentor will help support parent-school communication to increase student attendance. The Success Mentor will ensure optimal academic, social, and emotional development for students. The Success Mentor will work closely with the Community School Team (director, social worker, outreach worker, and tutors) to provide resources that will enhance the Community School. Success mentors are the most successful strategy for combating chronic absence. The idea is not for a Success Mentor to have the answers, but for the mentee to talk about and explore ideas. Staff members would need to have a working, reliable computer.

Requirements

High school diploma required
Two years or more experience in the field of youth development
Family outreach and home visit experience
Excellent written and verbal communication skills
Excellent documentation skills
Ability to motivate others toward achieving goals
Ability to develop alliances with high-risk and difficult-to-engage youth and families
Knowledge of community resources and counseling practices with high-risk populations
Outstanding collaborative skills
Staff members would need to have a working, reliable computer.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree preferred
Bilingual Spanish/ English is a plus.

Responsibilities

Maintain a caseload of 25 to 30 chronically absent students for the full school year.
Provide Walking School Bus service daily from 7:15 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.
Meet and greet mentees each morning.
Make positive morning phone calls home to families of absent students.
Monitor mentees’ attendance data and maintain a folder to include notes and other information to track mentee attendance.
If your school is a Community School, utilize the Student Profile from the New Visions Attendance Heat Map or Portal.
Meet with mentees regularly—both one-on-one and in small groups—to check in, listen, and chat about how school is going.
Work with school staff and teachers to identify appropriate interventions to support and engage mentee(s).
In a Community School, you can also partner with your Community School Director (CSD).
Celebrate improvements, no matter how small.
Create and maintain a thorough written record of assessments, attendance outreach efforts and all required documentation
Work collaboratively with community resources to establish timely and effective referral processes
Maintain ongoing open communication with school principal, parents, and school-based staff
Assist school Family Worker with home visits to engage families and develop relationships between school and families of students identified as the targeted population (At-risk and chronically absent students).
Assist school Family Worker with recruiting additional mentors, assigning mentees, monitoring mentor and mentee relationships, and tracking mentee attendance
Partner with families to create family goal plans that increase student attendance and enhance parent and child well-being
Maintain written records of home visits, family goals, and all required documentation
Implement attendance incentive programs.
Work collaboratively with community resources and advocate for families when necessary
Refer participants to a social worker for counseling to support with crisis intervention and safety planning
Participate in ongoing efforts to advocate for program needs via community coalition building
Seek partnership opportunities and bring in at least 3 new partners a year to leverage resources to support programs
Work closely with social worker, tutor, and Family worker to support targeted student needs
Organize and distribute community pantry items bi-weekly
Attend all required department/ agency meetings and/or trainings
Perform other duties as assigned by the Community School Director